Alex Palou's dad reveals the lavish privileges F1's Sainz and Norris enjoyed during their karting days

Four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou comes from a humble background, with his parents sacrificing to make the Spaniard's racing dream become a reality. On the other hand, drivers like Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz had a wealthy family backing them. Palou's father recently came out and revealed the lavish privileges of the likes of Sainz and Norris during the karting days.

Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Alex Palou, and Lance Stroll all raced in the karting championships around the same time, battling each other to come out on top. The story continued into the junior Formula categories, before the driver went their own way, and eventually reached the top tier of open-wheel racing series.

Alex Palou's father, Ramon, recently sat down with Mundodeportivo for an interview and answered questions about the world of motorsports. Ramon Palou was questioned on how difficult it is to make it to F1 for a young driver who doesn't have a strong financial background.

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Alex's father went into the details of how it was the same when his son was trying to progress the racing ladder and fighting the likes of Norris and Sainz in the karting championships. Speaking about the same, he detailed the lavish privileges of other drivers, as he said,

“When my son Alex was in karting, for example, Lando Norris was already riding a two-story motorhome, Lance Stroll was riding a three-truck motorhome, and Carlos Sainz arrived by helicopter at the track. So I don't think it's very different now than it was before. When you live it in the first person, it seems that it is something unheard of, but I think it is something that has always existed in the world of motorsport.”

“You have to be realistic: it is a world in which many resources are needed because the material used is expensive, since there are still cars and many people (mechanics and engineers). So it's hard to get into this engine world if you can't cover all these expenses,” added Alex Palou’s father

Ramon was his son's mechanic during the karting days and learned the engineering behind it, as the family couldn't afford a technician on top of the entry fees, kart costs, travel expenses, and other costs like tires. Alex Palou's father is now the co-owner of Palou Motorsports.

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Alex Palou's father detailed the cost of running a top-level kart in a championship for a season

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Motorsports was always a sport for the rich, with it being incredibly difficult for drivers from humble backgrounds. to make it to the top unless they had a sponsorship. The costs involved in all the ladder series were too high for an average family.

Drivers like Lewis Hamilton made it to the top as their family made extreme sacrifices, with the Briton's father, Anthony Hamilton, working three jobs to make his son's dream a reality. Alex Palou's father, Ramon, came out and detailed the same, while revealing the cost of running a top-level kart in the championship for a season. He said,

“To make the top 10 in karting today, you have to go full throttle. We could easily be talking about a cost of around 300,000 euros a year.”

Revealing the cost of an F4 driver, he suggested it was around 500,000 or 600,000 euros and that an F2 seat for a season cost around 2-2.5M euros.